A statement issued by the army said the hostage was identified as Yehudit Weiss, 65, and that his body was “exhumed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from a building adjacent to the Shifa Hospital…” IDF spokesman Daniel “in the Gaza Strip. The terrorists killed Yehudit, and we couldn’t reach him in time…” Hagari said.
Yehudit Weiss, a mother of five and a kindergartner, was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Beri in southern Israel on October 7, the IDF said in a post on the micro-blogging website, while her husband was killed by Hamas.
According to the IDF Post, “On October 7, Yehudit was abducted by Hamas from her home in Kibbutz Beri… Her husband Shmulik Weiss was killed in their home… Yehudit and Shmulik were the parents of five children. Mother- The father was… IDF soldiers recovered his body this morning from a building near Shifa Hospital in Gaza…”
Israeli officials have claimed that Yehudit Weiss was among the 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its initial offensive last month. Hamas, on the other hand, has claimed that its hostages have been killed due to Israel’s continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers with bulldozers surrounded al-Shifa hospital on Thursday, claiming to have found footage of the hostages on the hospital’s computers. The Israeli army has long claimed that Hamas has built a base and a secret tunnel under the hospital, which is being used to store ammunition.
The IDF claimed to have recovered ‘intelligence input and equipment linked to Hamas’ during an operation inside the hospital.
Meanwhile, according to the United Nations (UN), there are at least 2,300 patients, hospital staff and civilians in hospitals, including 36 infants. The hospital, which ran out of fuel, says water, electricity and oxygen supplies were cut off after Israeli soldiers entered the compound. Last week, three premature babies and several ICU patients died due to fuel shortage.